Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Thursday

The latest:

• Trudeau asks top public servant to look into mandatory vaccination for federal workers.
   
• Quebec to implement vaccine passport system as cases rise in province.
   
• France, Germany pressing ahead with booster shot plan despite WHO plea.
   
• Track how many people have been given a COVID-19 vaccine.
   
• INTERACTIVE | Where is the coronavirus pandemic getting better or worse?
   
• Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email: [email protected] 

Seven U.S. states with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates account for half of the country's new cases and hospitalizations in the last week, the White House said on Thursday.

The states are Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, according to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 co-ordinator, Jeff Zients, who spoke at a news briefing.

Of those, Florida and Texas account for about a third of new coronavirus cases and an even higher share of hospitalizations in the country. 

The Biden administration has been eager to thaw opposition by some Americans, including those who distrust the government, to taking the vaccine as the highly infectious delta variant sweeps the country.

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters that he credits the administration of Republican former president Donald Trump for helping to develop the vaccine.

"We give credit to the Trump administration for doing this," said Fauci.

Some 864,000 vaccinations have been given in the past 24 hours, the highest since early July, the White House said.

The number of people now in the hospital in the U.S. with the virus has more than tripled over the past month, from an average of roughly 12,000 to almost 43,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That is still nowhere close to the nearly 124,000 hospitalizations at the very peak of the winter surge in January. But health experts say this wave is perhaps more worrying because it has risen more swiftly than prior ones. Also, a disturbingly large share of patients this time are young adults.

At Thursday's White House briefing, Zients also confirmed that an interagency working group was developing plans that may require some type of vaccine requirement for foreign nationals.

He emphasized the White House has made no final decision on vaccine requirements and said that was one path under consideration.

-From Reuters and The Associated Press, last updated at 7 p.m. ET

What's happening in Canada

WATCH | Alberta's top doctor defends rollback of restrictions: 

'If we don't help people make this shift now, the question is when would we make this shift?' | Dr. Deena Hinshaw

3 years ago

Duration 11:46

Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw joins Power & Politics to discuss the province's plan to roll back COVID-19 restrictions.

• B.C. cases surge in young people as health officials urge more people to get vaccinated.

• Parent company was 'woefully unprepared' for outbreak that killed 39 at Regina nursing home: ombudsman.

• Manitoba to unveil return-to-school plan as kids under 12 remain unvaccinated.

• Ontario records 213 new COVID-19 cases.

• Niagara Region hospitals mark zero COVID-19 patients for 1st time in nearly a year.

What's happening around the world

As of Thursday evening, more than 200.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a case tracking tool maintained by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.2 million.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Tokyo reported 5,042 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, hitting a record since the pandemic began as infections surge in the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics. The additional cases brought the total for Tokyo to 236,138, about a quarter of the national total. Japan reported more than 14,000 cases on Wednesday for a total of 970,000.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, whose government has faced criticism over its response to rising COVID-19 case numbers, told reporters, "We need to tackle the situation now that we have a stronger sense of urgency."

"The infections are expanding at a pace we have never experienced before."

The Philippines, meanwhile, announced that it will extend tighter coronavirus restrictions to include three areas, including a province adjoining the capital region, to prevent the spread of the delta variant, the president's office said on Thursday. The tougher restrictions, already due to take effect in metropolitan Manila from Aug. 6, will also be imposed in Laguna province and the cities of Cagayan De Oro and Iloilo, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement

In Africa, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says he came down with COVID-19 last week and if he had not been vaccinated earlier, "I would not be here by now." An audibly ill John Nkengasong told reporters that despite his vaccination in April, "the severity of the attack is unbearable." He cited his experience to push back against vaccine hesitancy.

African Union officials said on Thursday that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired through a Johnson & Johnson deal, but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5 per cent of people are vaccinated.

In the Americas, the delta variant is "highly worrisome" as the mutation has spread to nearly two dozen countries across the Americas, officials with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) told reporters.

Argentina, racing to fight the spread of the variant, said on Thursday it will offer second doses of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines to citizens who received a first dose of Russia's Sputnik V but could not receive a second jab due to delays in deliveries.

In the Middle East, Iran again reported a fresh single-day high on Wednesday, with 39,357 new cases of COVID-19. The country reported 409 additional deaths, bringing the reported COVID-related death toll to 92,194.

In Europe, France's highest court upheld a new law requiring members of the public to hold a health pass to access bars and restaurants and for health workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-September, saying it complied with the republic's founding charter.

Britain will scrap quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers returning to England and Scotland from France, rolling back on a rule that had infuriated French politicians and thrown millions of holidays into confusion.

-From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 7 p.m. ET